The Bible and Culture

Words of course only have meanings in particular contexts. It is not true that 'in the beginning was the dictionary, and the dictionary yea verily set meanings in stone'. No dictionaries and lexicons are studies of the uses of words in a variety of contexts to determine their semantic range. And of course sometimes words can be completely reversed in meaning, for example the term awful today means something that is bad, but awe-full meant full of awe and wonder originally.What of course … [Read more...]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6aDoOzYN-UKudos to Dr. Michael Halcomb for passing this along. … [Read more...]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3q7ycY9hbk … [Read more...]

http://www.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2015/01/29/funny-or-die-bill-nye.funny-or-die?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion&iref=obnetwork … [Read more...]

Henry Clay was in so very many ways, a remarkable man. A gentleman farmer, born in Virginia, but coming to adulthood in Kentucky he found slavery abhorrent, and fought for the gradual abolition of the practice. He was often out of step for his day and age on many subjects. He served not just as a senator from the state of Kentucky, he was also Secretary of State, and three times he worked his political magic to prevent the splitting of the fragile union of the United States. Three times he … [Read more...]

In the eighth installment of Susan Hill's much praised detective series, she takes on a subject that, as the British would say, will possibly put you off your tea. The subject is not merely paedophilia, but paedophilia filmed for the viewing pleasure of the sick and wicked, including snuff films. In other words, this is not a novel for the weak of stomach, never mind the faint of heart. Doubtless, it is difficult to continue to come up with original, or at least interesting, subject matter … [Read more...]

TEN THINGS NOT TO DO WHILE DRIVING!1) TEXTING 2) USING A HAND-HELD CELL PHONE 3) CHANGING CDS IN THE CD PLAYER 4) REACHING DOWN TO PICK UP SOMETHING YOU DROPPED ON THE FLOOR OR IN THE PASSENGER’S SIDE SEAT. 5) TRYING TO TAKE A LEFT TURN ON A YELLOW ARROW WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC TOO CLOSE TO BE SURE YOU CAN MAKE IT. 6) IGNORE STOP SIGNS. 7) ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW AND TAUNT NEARBY DRIVERS INTO RACING YOU. 8) TURN AROUND TO HAND A CHILD SOMETHING IN THE BACK SEAT. 9) TAILGATING THE CAR I … [Read more...]

Leave it to the Romans to try something too big! The picture above is of a block of stone some 64 feet long, hand-carved, and weighing in at a massive 1200+ tons (not pounds, tons, you do the math). It was found in an ancient quarry near Baalbeck in Lebanon. It appears to have been destined to be part of the massive stairs leading up to the even more massive temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus being erected in Heliopolis. Only one problem--- transportation. Well, actually two problems-- it was … [Read more...]

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHOW AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW SOME OF THE PLOT, THEN SKIP PARAGRAPH 2 BELOW.There are not that many script writers in America more talented than Aaron Sorkin, who made his name with the blockbuster 'The West Wing' show which amazingly ran for seven consecutive seasons on a major network television without getting stale or old, or losing most of its audience. Even 'Lost' only survived for six seasons. But after scripting a flop called 'Studio 60 on the … [Read more...]